Growing Up
by DownInTheDirt
Summary: Elektra is used to getting into trouble, but when she finds herself in more trouble than ever, how long can she keep it a secret? This time, she could be moved from Elm Tree House, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was happy there. Rated K . Set AFTER Season 3 of Tracy Beaker Returns. Reviews very much appreciated!
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:- Hi! Yes, it's been a while. (If you want to know why, my explanation is on my profile page!). Anyway, I thought of this story a while ago but I didn't pluck up the courage to write it until now. My other Tracy Beaker Returns story with my original character didn't go as well as I'd hoped, so I thought I'd try this. Elektra has always been very close to my heart – I don't know why, there's just something about her that I love – so I thought I'd give writing about her a go.**

**This is set after the last episode of Tracy Beaker Returns. It may run into The Dumping Ground too but for now I'm just going to use the break between the end of TBR and the beginning of TDG as my timeline.**

**Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it!**

-x-

Elektra had been feeling weird for over a week now. Of course, she didn't tell anyone about it. Living in Elm Tree house, her privacy was limited already, and she didn't want people poking her nose into this too. Besides, she was sure it was nothing serious.

The knock on her bedroom door made her jolt from her sleep – at the right moment too; she'd been having one of her nightmares. She knew how they all ended, but this time she'd been woken before the grand finale.

"Elektra! Breakfast!" She heard Mike call. If she had her way, she'd sleep until past noon, but there was a routine here. Not as strict as in Burnywood and the numerous other places she'd lived, but Gina and Mike didn't like anyone missing the 'most important meal of the day'. She groaned as she heard another, more rapid knock.

"Elektra, are you aw-."

"I heard you!" She snapped, as she sat up in bed and pushed some stray hair from her eyes. As soon as she opened her eyes, that weird feeling was back. She felt sort of…nauseous. Perhaps a stomach bug, she thought to herself as she rolled out of bed. But if she had a stomach bug, at least some of the other kids would have had it too, but they'd seemed fine the past few days.

With a sigh, she grabbed her towel, wash cloth and clothes, and headed to the bathroom, pushing Carmen out of the way, who was also heading in the same direction.

"Elektra!" Carmen whined as Elektra slammed the door in her face.

"I beat you here, squirt!" Elektra smirked to herself as Carmen kicked the locked door in frustration. "Deal with it." She kicked off her pyjama bottoms and her underwear, and frowned when she looked down at her underpants. Dry as a bone. Again. She'd been expecting her period four days ago, and it hadn't arrived yet. She wasn't too worried; her periods had always been a little irregular, but never this late before. She shrugged it off as she washed, dressed, and did her hair, throwing her clothes into the laundry basket and leaving the bathroom, where Carmen was still waiting.

"I was here first and you know it, Elektra! I'm sick of you pushing me out of the way to get what you want!"

"Ugh, loser." Elektra grunted as she made her way to the kitchen and sat down. The choices of cereal, toast and boiled eggs were already on the table, but Elektra suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. The very sight of food was making her feel sick again, and Tee and Tyler fighting over the milk was giving her a headache.

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Elektra got to her feet. She was used to the fights and usually blanked them out by thinking about something else – like writing poetry in her head, but today it was just impossible. It made everyone listen though. Everyone stopped dead, just staring at her.

"Elektra…" Gina was by her side and she was expecting a lecture, but instead, there was concern in Gina's voice. "Are you alright, babes? You look pale…."

"I-I'm fine…." Elektra stammered, before covering her mouth and running to the nearest toilet. Thankfully there was no one in there and she'd just made it on time. When she'd finished vomiting, she wiped her mouth and flushed away the mess, before sitting with her back against the door and waiting for the nausea to pass.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Damn there being no privacy in this place!

"Elektra? It's Carmen…Gina wanted to know if you're okay, and if you still want breakfast?"

"Tell her I'm fine, I haven't thrown up or anything, I'm just not hungry." The sound of Carmen's footsteps fading must have meant that Carmen was going to pass the message on, and Elektra felt safe to come out of the bathroom. All she wanted to do now was go to the living room, relax on the sofa and watch TV. As breakfast was still going on, no one would bother her for a few minutes at least, and she didn't have the energy to go all the way back upstairs to bed.

She flopped onto the sofa and flicked through the channels, finally settling on some cartoon. Not like she was focussed on it anyway.

"Didn't know Tom and Jerry was your thing, _Mandy._" Johnny laughed as he took the remote from her hand. She knew he used her real name to annoy her, but she didn't even have the energy to chase him, or even have a go at him, for that matter. Johnny clearly found this very confusing.

"Are you ill or something? Why aren't you beating me up?"

"Because, I can't be bothered." She breathed a sigh as Carmen and Tee sat next to her, and Johnny turned the TV over to something else.

"Elektra Perkins, can't be bothered to scream and chase us when she doesn't get her own way?" Johnny smirked. "Definitely ill." Elektra noticed Tee and Carmen move away slightly, in case they became infected by whatever illness she had.

"Shut up." She mumbled, letting her eyes fall closed as she listened to the normal noise of everyday life around her. Eventually, the noise turned into a buzz, and then went silent as she drifted into a deep sleep.

-x-x-

"Do you think she's really asleep?" Tyler frowned, walking over to the sofa's. "Or do you think she's faking? Planning some sort of trick? Pretending not to care about Johnny snatching the remote from her, but secretly plotting her revenge for when we least expect it." It did sound like Elektra.

"Poke her. See if she reacts." Frank said from the pool table. Tyler slowly moved closer, and gently poked the sleeping girl's shoulder. No response. This time, he tried shaking her, only to get a disgruntled groan and then continued her deep, even breathing.

"Oi, Mandy!" Johnny yelled from his place on the other sofa. Still, no response. "Nah, I don't think she's faking."

Carmen looked worried. "What if she's really sick? Maybe she needs a doctor…." Tee chewed her lip in agreement.

"I think Carmen's right. I mean, would she let Johnny get away with calling her by her real name if she was her usual self? We should get Mike and Gina."

"No!" Tyler exclaimed. He had that look in his eyes. He was planning a prank. "This is our one chance to get back at her without her even realising it. What if we draw on her face?"

"I think we can come up with something a bit better than that." Rick rolled his eyes as he entered the living room.

"Make up?" Tyler suggested.

"I was thinking more cream and toilet paper." Johnny suggested. "Come on." He left to get some, with Rick and Tyler following.

Carmen turned to Tee, and then placed a hand on Elektra's forehead, still cautious in case the older girl woke up and smacked her in the face. "She's sort of warm…I'm going to tell Mike and Gina."

-x-x-x-

"She's acting really weird, Mike. Johnny called her Mandy earlier and she didn't seem to care…she just sat there, staring into space." Tee explained.

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't sound like Elektra."

"And she did look ill this morning." Gina pointed out. "Where is she now?"

"She was watching TV until Johnny snatched the remote…then she just fell asleep." Carmen replied. She decided to leave out the part where Tyler, Rick and Johnny were planning to prank her.

"Well…just let her rest a little while, yeah?" Gina smiled a little. "We'll see if she wants to eat at lunch time. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

-x-x-x-x-

"What do you think of our handiwork?" Tyler laughed as the girls re-entered the living room. Elektra was covered in toilet paper, and they'd squirted whipped cream on top. Extra on top of her hair. They'd even added a cherry on top.

Tee couldn't help but snigger.

"She is going to_ kill_ you when she wakes up."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**Author's Note:- Okay, it's not that great, but I hope you like it anyway. This is just the beginning though! It gets better, I promise. Please review!**


	2. Chapter Two

**Author's Note:- First of all, thank you for the reviews! I honestly didn't expect to get any for a first chapter, but getting four was a really pleasant thing to see! Thank all of you! You're so kind. Secondly, it's taken me a little longer to upload this chapter than I expected, due to Easter preparations, and just being busy in general. But you don't have to wait anymore, because here's Chapter Two! I hope you enjoy it!**

-x-

From the moment she opened her eyes, she knew something was amiss. First off, her neck was killing her, and her head lay awkwardly on the arm of the sofa, from where she must have slid from her sitting position in her deep sleep. However, that wasn't the only thing that was wrong. She felt stiff and sticky, and when she sat up, she knew why. She was covered from head to toe in whipped cream and toilet paper. The warmth of her body had caused the cream to melt into the toilet paper and therefore, seal it to her clothes, and worse still, it was in her hair…and in her extensions, which were more complicated to wash.

She opened her mouth to scream, but instead she heard Gina's voice from the kitchen.

"LUNCH!" And then she heard Carmen down the corridor calling, "I'm going to get Elektra!"

Elektra looked over as Carmen walked in, and she'd expected the girl to laugh, but she simply looked at her like nothing was wrong.

"Oh, you're awake. Great timing. Lunch is ready." She paused, "I had nothing to do with the cream and toilet paper, I swear." She stammered slightly, clearly afraid that Elektra was going to lose her temper and being yelling and lunging at her, as she usually did.

Inside, her blood was boiling, but she believed Carmen. That didn't stop her being angry though.

"Who. Did. It?" She asked, in a low and dangerous tone. Carmen shook her head.

"It was…more than one person…." She replied slowly, but before she could go on, Elektra was running, full speed towards the kitchen, despite her shoes sticking to the floor as she ran.

"ALRIGHT, WHICH ONE OF YOU BRATS DID THIS!?" She yelled as everyone turned to look at her. Naturally, they all started howling with laughter. "IT WAS YOU, WASN'T IT!?" She rounded on Tyler – he was usually the number one suspect when a prank was pulled in this place, because let's face it, nine times out of ten, it was him.

By now, Mike had grabbed Elektra by the arm to stop her from lashing out, but she still struggled.

"Not just me!" Tyler pointed to Rick and Johnny, "It was their idea to use the cream and toilet paper!"

"Oh thanks, Tyler!" Johnny scowled. "Snitch!"

Rick, however, had stopped laughing, and actually looked rather guilty. "We were just having a laugh. We saw an opportunity and we took it. We're sorry…Aren't we, guys?" He rounded on the other two, who simply mumbled a barely audible 'sorry'.

"You're SORRY!? My clothes are ruined! This is never EVER going to come out!" It was true, putting them in the washing machine would break the machine, because of the paper. It was just stuff, sure, but it was the principal of the thing. "And my hair! My HAIR!" Panic began to rise in her voice. If her hair extensions were ruined, that was it…her hair made her feel confident. Made her who she was.

"The three of you are grounded for a week without TV." Mike didn't let go of Elektra's arm, but he had his usual disciplinarian face on as he rounded on the boys. "You will replace everything you've ruined out of your allowances, and you'll clean up whatever mess you've made in the living room. Is that understood?" The three boys nodded, no longer laughing, and looking sorry for themselves, which gave Elektra a little satisfaction. Harsh punishment, but they deserved it.

"Elektra, go and get cleaned up." Mike told her, calmly, finally releasing her arm. She turned to walk towards the stairs, to the bathroom, but she turned for a split second, to address the three pranksters.

"This isn't over."

-x-x-

Peeling herself from her ruined clothes was harder than expected, considering the fact that she had to remove the paper from her skin before getting into the shower, for it would block the plug hole. She muttered obscenities to herself as she finally freed herself, unclipped her beloved extensions and set them aside from her clothes. She hoped there would be a way to save them, but it looked unlikely. She stepped into the shower and simply stood there as the warm water hit her naked body like bullets.

The water calmed her, and her mind turned to other things as she started to wash her hair and her body. It was only now that she realised she was hungry. Ravenously so, actually. She hadn't had breakfast, so she could understand the hunger, and she hoped that Mike and Gina had saved her some.

When she was finished, she turned off the water and dried her body and hair, before getting dressed into a new outfit and running some warm water in the sink. She was going to try saving her ruined extensions, though she knew it would be a waste of time. The clip-ins weren't like the permanent ones, they couldn't be washed as easily, and after a few minutes of getting nowhere, Elektra gave up. No matter what she did, the blue hair had formed a clump, all the strands of hair fused together. Unsalvageable.

She tossed them, along with her ruined clothes into the bin, and it wasn't until she got to her room that she realised she was crying. Hot, wet tears slipping down her cheeks and onto one of her hands, which were clasped in her lap.

_No, Elektra, you don't cry. Crying is weak. And especially don't let the weirdo's see you cry._

She'd only just managed to stop crying when she heard the knock on her door – now she hoped that there was no evidence of her crying, such as tearstains and puffy eyes.

"What?" She mumbled, as was her usual response when someone bothered her. Carmen poked her head around the door, and then let herself in, Tee behind her, carrying a tray of food and a cup of juice.

"We're sorry." Carmen said, sitting on the edge of Elektra's bed, as Tee handed her the tray. "About your hair and everything. If it helps, I think it looks nice natural."

"It doesn't help, Carmen." Elektra grumbled, looking down at her plate. A couple of ham and cheese sandwiches, a packet of crisps, juice and an apple. Though this was her usual portion size, she felt that this time it wouldn't help her hunger. "Thanks though." She nodded towards the tray and started to eat.

The other two girls didn't move and Elektra didn't tell them to go. Right now, she was concentrating on eating. The contents of the tray were gone in less than five minutes.

"Well you're feeling better then." Carmen smirked as she watched the older girl lick her fingers clean. It was true, she felt a lot better than this morning. She stood up, taking the tray to the door.

"I'm going to get something else, I'm still hungry."

-x-x-x-

She'd been buttering her third slice of toast when she heard the back door open. She didn't look over until she saw something blue out of the corner of her eye. New hair extensions and these were _brand _new. Still in their plastic wrapping. They must have cost a fortune, as they looked good quality. Possibly better than her old ones.

She looked up to see Rick standing there, with a smirk on his face. "Hungry?" He teased as he took a seat at the breakfast bar, opposite her, as Elektra licked the butter off her fingers so she could have a proper look.

"Where did you get these?" She asked.

"Oh, I know people." Rick shrugged, casually, grabbing himself a banana from the fruit bowl. "Call it a peace offering, and the beginning of replacing your old stuff."

She couldn't help but smile a little at his thoughtfulness, but she quickly hid the smile as she looked up at him.

"Don't expect a thank you or anything; it's your fault you had to get these." She pointed out.

"I didn't expect one. And I only did a third of it." He shrugged. "But I'll just pretend you thanked me and say you're welcome."

She started towards the door. She couldn't wait to get these in and feel like her old self again.

"Hey, what about your toast!?" Rick called as she walked away.

"Oh, that…you can have it." She shrugged, her hunger replaced by excitement as she went to work on her hair.

_Thanks, Rick. _She thought silently to herself.

She'd learned a lesson that day – to never fall asleep anywhere but her own room again.

-x-x-x-x-

**Author's Note:- Well there you have it, Chapter Two! I'm pretty pleased with it, actually, so I hope you are too! Reviews are welcome as always, and I look forward to seeing you in Chapter Three! **

**xxx**


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's Note:- Thank you so much for your continued support on this story! Your reviews give me so much more motivation to write, so thank you thank you thank you!**

**I must admit, I struggled with this chapter, but I persevered because I really want this story to work.**

**So here's Chapter Three and as always, I hope you enjoy it.**

-x-

It was the last week of school before the summer holidays, thank God. Elektra hated school, but that was no surprise – she hated teachers telling her what to do, and she hated almost every subject, except English, and she only liked that when she got to do creative writing.

She'd woken up early that morning, as the sickly feeling had returned. After being sick once again, she got dressed in the bathroom, and her heart sunk when once again, her underwear was dry. She couldn't push it to the back of her mind anymore. She wasn't stupid. She knew the symptoms of pregnancy, and she did have a reason to believe that she was, indeed, pregnant.

-x-x-

_Weeks before she started feeling sick, she'd received a text message from a boy. An ex-boyfriend, actually. She'd met him back in the Cobra days, and they'd broken up long before Elektra came to Elmtree House. She hadn't thought about him much, actually. The relationship hadn't lasted long and she wasn't exactly heartbroken when he broke up with her – she was used to being rejected and abandoned. She forgot about him and moved on._

_And now here he was, getting in contact. She, of course, hadn't been expecting it, and her heart skipped a beat when she read the message. Not that she had feelings for him or anything, she was merely surprised._

Zeke: Lex? It's Zeke.

_Short and sweet. To the point. That was Zeke all over. No apology. No explanation of why he'd just left her. She considered ignoring the message, but seconds later, her phone vibrated again._

Zeke: Are you there? I know what this might look like…I just want to talk.

_And so they did. She messaged him back. It was small talk at first…about how she was and where she was living now. She saw this conversation going nowhere, and was about to find an excuse to end it, before he asked her to meet him in town. She asked why, but the only response she'd gotten was 'you'll see'._

_It was dinner time by this point, and thankfully, Elektra's curfew wasn't until 8pm, so she could still go out. She was certain this wouldn't take long, anyway._

"_Where are you going?" Mike asked. Of course he asked questions when she didn't want to hear them. But it was his job._

"_Out." She said, simply, rushing past him and out of the door. She heard him call "Be back by eight!" But she continued walking. Town was only a ten minute walk away, and Zeke had told her he wanted to meet outside the shopping centre. She expected to be waiting a while, but to her astonishment, he had arrived before her. _

_He looked the same. Tall, skinny, pale skinned, dressed in ripped jeans and a hoodie, the only difference was that he now had green hair, which made him look like Shrek had puked on his head, but she kept her thoughts to herself._

"_Lex…" He smiled, and went to hug her, but she pulled away. _

"_What do you want, Zeke? You left me, remember? Don't expect a big emotional reunion." _

"_I'm sorry…" Zeke mumbled, barely audible, as he played with his ear piercing. "I've missed you."_

"_Well you have a funny way of showing it." Elektra replied, coldly. "No text, no phone call, nothing. You tell me it's over and then you disappear from my life. Don't worry though, I'm over you."_

"_Then why did you agree to meet me here?" Elektra glared at her former boyfriend as he now had a smug smirk on his face. _

"_Something to do." She said, shortly. There was an awkward silence, before Zeke asked._

"_Do you want to come and see my place? It's only about a five minute walk away." Zeke was a lot older than Elektra. He was nineteen now, and would have had his own place. Like her, Zeke had grown up in care. She was tempted, only to see what he'd made of himself, and she wanted to see what her life might be like someday, when she finally escaped from the kid's home and into her own flat. _

"_Fine. But I'm not staying. I'm having a look and then I'm gone."_

_They'd arrived in five minutes like he'd said, and as she'd anticipated, there wasn't a lot to look at. Standard kitchen, small living room, bedroom and bathroom, and the place was a mess. Dirty clothes and pizza boxes everywhere. She turned around to leave, but he'd grabbed her arm. Not hard, but enough to make her turn and face him._

"_I meant it you know, Lex. I've miss you." He sounded sincere, as well, and there was just something that was stopping her from leaving. She was starting to care again. Or, well, she cared more now than she had in their entire relationship. It was stupid, to be falling for him so quickly again._

_She didn't do love. And she had no plans on having another relationship, but maybe, just for today, she'd forgive him for his relinquishment of her._

"_Prove it." She whispered, and before she knew it, they were kissing…._

-x-x-x-

At the time, she saw no point in using protection. Teenage pregnancies happened to other people, not her. She'd had sex unprotected lots of times and nothing had ever happened before.

Until now.

She left the bathroom and headed down to breakfast. She didn't talk to anyone, despite of Carmen's attempts to make conversation with her. Breakfast ended and she headed in the direction of school. She couldn't be pregnant. She couldn't. But there was only one way to find out. During lunch hour, she'd run into town, buy a test and take it before anyone noticed she was gone.

The morning's lesson's dragged more than usual, and even though Rick and Frank were in her classes, and they sat together, considering that they knew each other so well and she'd have to make no effort to make new friends. She didn't want new friends anyway. Even having them to talk to didn't distract her, and she had a feeling they were beginning to suspect something.

Relief flooded through her when the lunch bell rang, and she literally jumped out of her seat and ran from her maths class, losing Frank and Rick in the crowd of people filling the maths corridor.

-x-x-x-x-

Two minutes. That's how long these tests were supposed to take. She'd peed on the stick in the McDonalds toilet (not glamorous, she knew, but it was close to school and time was running out) and here she was, holding it in her hand, and waiting anxiously for the result. Two minutes seemed like two days right now, and she hoped that the fact it was taking so long meant that this was a false alarm. Relieved, she stood up, pulled her school trousers up and slung her bag over her back, and was about to leave the cubicle and she looked down at the test again. Dread filled her entire body.

Pregnant. 4-5 weeks.

Clearblue was accurate, and who was she to doubt it? She was definitely pregnant.

What the hell was she going to do now? She couldn't go back to school, not now. She was crying and everything, her mascara running down her face, and the very thought of a miniature human growing inside of her made her feel sick again.

She didn't know what possessed her to do so, but she pulled out her phone, and found his name in her contact list. She was going to have to tell him.

"Yeah?" She heard his voice answer. They hadn't spoken since they'd slept together. Shit, this was going to be awkward.

"It's Lex…"

"What do you want?" He had no emotion in his voice.

"Why are you being like that? We slept a few weeks ago, or did you forget?" She felt the anger rising in her throat.

"What do you want?" He repeated. He sounded bored. "That was a one off. I was bored and you're decent in bed. You didn't actually believe me when I said I missed you, did you?"

The tears rolled off her chin and she hastily wiped her eyes, trying to keep it together.

"I'm pregnant." She said, bluntly. "And it's yours." There was silence on the end of the phone, and she thought maybe he hadn't heard her, but then he spoke.

"Well don't expect anything from me. I don't want a kid. I don't want you either. You're on your own. It's probably not mine anyway."

And then he hung up.

No one could know. Not Mike, not Gina. Not anyone. This had to be her secret until she figured out what to do.

She hugged her knees to her chest and cried.

-x-x-x-x-x-

**Author's Note:- And there it is! Elektra knows! I'm sorry if this chapter seemed fast paced and rushed, it was half intended considering Elektra's mind is all over the place, and the other half being that I'm really busy but I was so desperate to update I couldn't wait until I had more time.**

**I hope you liked it anyway.**

**See you in Chapter Four!**

**x**


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